Grading machine



1934- J. w, JOHNSTON GRADING MACHINE Filed May 20, 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet l wY MN T h m U 5 w mm M m E u Q mm m w w VU U v h .1. m h mm MN. *Q m5 E/ 3 Q m m mw% g J hm -J m W L r.|. w m x mm m m m u m IMHMIHL m in u u \Q 3Q Q n i Feb. 6, 1934. w JOHNSTON 1,945,858

GRADI NG MACHI NE Filed May 20, 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig.3.

4L 1 h fi Feb. 6, J w JOHNSTQN 1,945,858

GRADING MACHINE Filed May 20, 1932 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Jul-11155011 AEy.

1934- J. w. JOHNSTON GRADING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 L X/erg Filed May 20, 1932 Feb. 6, 1934. J. w. J'OHNSTON GRADING MACHINE Filed May 20, 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Feb. 6, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GRADING MACHINE Application May 20, 1

2 Claims.

This invention relates to grading machines of the kind which grade pieces of leather such as soles, taps, heel lifts, counters or other blanks, in accordance with the thickness of the thinnest spot as determined by the detecting rolls.

Although the invention is of more general application, it is designed particularly for a grading machine of the type shown in the Cogswell Patent No. 1,586,487, dated October 2, 1928, and consists principally in certain improved mechanism for controlling the feeder by which blanks are fed in one at a time to the detecting rolls; certain improved mechanism for adjusting the stationary roll to vary the normal separation of the stationary roll from the movable detecting roll; certain improvements in the transmitting mechanism by which measurements determined by the detecting rolls are transmitted to the grading mechanism; and certain improved mechanism for pressing the movable roll toward the stationary roll. Other novel features will appear as the description proceeds.

In the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 is a plan view of a grading machine 25 embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a partial side elevation of the machine shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Fig. 2; 4 is a section on line 44 of Fig. 2; 30 Fig. 5 is a section on line 5--5 of Fig. 1;

Figs. 6 7 are details of the journal boxes for the upper detecting roll; and

Fig. 0 is a detail of part of the indicator or pointer mechanism.

lo and 11, one above the other, are mounted respectively on shafts 10 and 11 The two shafts are geared together to cause the two rolls to rotate together and the upper shaft 10 is driven from a suitable source of power and constitutes the main driving shaft of the machine. The shaft 16 of the upper roll is supported in journal boxes 13 which are stationary when the machine in operation but are adjustably mounted in vertical guideways on the frame of the machine. The lower shaft 11 for the lower roll 11 is journaled at its ends in bearings provided at the free end of a pair of arms 14, 14, which are disposed one at each side of the frame 50 of the machine. The rear end of each arm- 14 is pivotally mounted on the machine frame by a universal joint 15 (Figs. 1 and 2) so that the lower detecting rolls may be moved toward and from the upper roll 10. The universal joint at 5 the rear end of each arm 14 permits a limited The usual pair of detecting and propelling rolls 932. Serial No. 612,493

independent movement of the opposite ends of the lower roll 11 in response to any unevenness of the blanks from side to side as they pass between the detecting rolls.

The free ends of the arm 14 rest within shallow sockets provided upon the top side of crossbar 16. Fixed to the under side of the crossbar 16 are two depending arms or brackets 17, 17 which are connected by links 18, 18 with a pair of'bell-crank levers 19, 19, each fulcrumed at 20 on the machine frame. The lower or downwardly extending arms l9, 19, of the bellcrank levers are connected by means of hooks 21, 21, and a transversely disposed coil spring 22. The shank of each hook 21 extends loosely through a hole in the lower end of the bell crank lever 19 and is threaded to receive a thumb nut 23 by which the tension of the spring 22 may be adjusted. It will be understood that the spring 22 is normally under tension and acts through the connections just described to yieldingly support the lower detecting roll 11 and to press the same toward the stationary upper roll so that the lower roll will move up and down in response to variations in thickness of the blanks passing between the two rolls. Stop screws 89, 89, (Fig. 4) on the frame of the machine engages the inner sides of bell-crank levers 19, 19, to limit the upward movement of the roll 11 under the influence of spring 22.

The free ends of arms 14, 1 are connected by a yoke whose ends are pivoted as at- 24 (Fig. 2) to the ends of arms 14. The yoke 25 is connected by a pair of links 26, 26, (Figs. 4 and 5) to arms 2'7, 27, fixed to rock-shaft 28 which is journaled in bearings on the frame of the machine.

The rock-shaft 28 also has fastened to it an arm 29 (Figs. 2 and a) positioned outside of the frame of the machine. In the free end of arm 29 is a vertical hole through which extends the lower end of a vertical rod 30. The rod 30 carries an abutment nut 31 engaging the under side of arm 29, and a collar 32 spaced some distance above lever 29 and serving as an abutment for a coil spring 33 between the collar 32 and the top side of arm 29. The upper end of rod 30 (Figs. 2 and 8 is threaded and screwed into an interiorly threaded apertured boss 34 provided on the side of a rack member 35. A nut 36 above the boss 34 serves as a binding nut to hold the rod '30 and the rack member against relative rotative displacement. The rack member 35 has a second apertured boss 3'7 which loosely fits theunthreadedportion of rod 30 below boss 34. The

rack member 35 is made with a rack of teeth 38 meshing with a pinion 39 (Figs. 1, 2 and 4) fast on the spindle 40 which carries the pointer 43 of a visual indicator shown generally at 41.

The indicator spindle 40 is journaled in a bearing provided on a bracket 42 forming part of the machine frame and has fixed thereto the pointer 48 and two ratchet wheels 44 and 45. The teeth of ratchet wheel 44 are inclined oppositely to those of ratchet wheel 45 and spring-pressed pawls or detents 46 and 4'7, pivoted on bracket 42, cooperate respectively with ratchet wheels 44 and 45. The pawl 46 is connected by a link 48 with a bellcrank lever 49, which cooperates with one end of a lever 50 (Figs. 2, 3 and 4) fulcrumed at 51 on the machine frame. The opposite end of lever 50 engages a vertically slidable gate 52 (Figs. 1, 4 and 5) The pawl 47 is mounted on the same pivot as pawl 46 and has an upwardly extending arm which carries a pin 53 (Figs. 2 and 4) engaged by the end of an arm 54 fast on rock-shaft 55 which is journaled at its ends in bearings on the frame of the machine. The rock-shaft 55 extends across the top of the machine from side to side, as best shown in Fig. 1, and has fixed to its center a rearwardly extending arm or rod 56 above the path traversed by the blanks as they pass through the machine. The rod 56 carries an adjustable depending bracket 57, on the lower end of which is mounted a freely rotatable trip roll 58 normally resting in the path of the blanks in a longitudinal groove 59 (Figs. 1 and 5) on top of the bed plate 60. The trip roll 58 may be termed the starting trip since it is actuated by the advance end of a blank being propelled by the detecting and propelling rolls to initiate the effective operation of the transmitting mechanism, by which the measurements determined by the detecting rolls are transmitted to the grading mechanism as usual in machines of this type.

Normally, the trip roll 58 and rod 56 rest at the limit of their downward movement with the arm 54 in engagement with pin 53 so as to hold the pawl 4'7 out of engagement with its ratchet wheel 44 thereby leaving the pointer 43 free to be swung toward the left as viewed in Fig. 2. At this time the pawl 46 will be in engagement with its ratchet wheel 45, assuming that there is no blank beneath the gate 52 and the latter is in its lowermost position. When the gate 52 is lifted by the presence of a blank under its lower end, the gate 52 acts through lever 50, bell-crank 49 and link 48 to hold the pawl 46 out of engagement with its ratchet wheel 45, in which condition, if the trip roll 58 is in its normal position, the pointer 43 is free to swing in either direction. This condition obtains after a blank enters beneath gate 52 and until its forward end reaches and lifts trip roll 58.

The feeding mechanism as herein shown includes a magazine H for holding a stack of soles or other blanks 61 (Figs. 2 and 5). The front wall 62 of the magazine is provided on its outer side near its lower end with guideways within which the gate 52 is mounted to slide vertically. The bottom of the magazine H is formed by a table or shelf 64 secured to the machine frame. A feed carriage 65 (Fig. 1) extends up through a slot in shelf 64 and is reciprocated by a link 66 and crank 6'7 (Figs. 2, 3, 4 and 5) to feed the lowermost blank from the stack 61 forward toward the detecting rolls 10 and 11. The crank 6'7 is fixed to a shaft 68 journaled in bearings on the machine frame (Fig. 3). On the outer end of shaft 68 is loosely mounted a sprocket wheel 69 connected by a chain '70 (Fig. 2) with a sprocket wheel '71 fast on driving shaft 10 of the upper detecting roll 10.

Shaft 10 is continuously driven in the direction of the arrow (Fig. 2) by a worm wheel '72 fast on the shaft and a worm '73 fixed to the armature shaft of a motor '74. The two rolls 10 and 11 are driven together by means of spur gears '75 and '76 which are always in mesh and are fixed respectively to shafts 10 and 11 Splined to shaft 68 of the feed mechanism (Fig. 3) is a clutch member '77 provided at its outer end with teeth or projections which cooperate with complementary teeth or projections upon the inner end of the hub of sprocket wheel 69, which sprocket wheel therefore constitutes a combined sprocket wheel and clutch member loosely mounted on shaft 68. The clutch member 77 is shiftable endwise on shaft 68 and is yieldingly urged toward the clutch face of sprocket wheel 69 by means of a coil spring '78 interposed between the clutch member '77 and the frame of the machine. Projecting radially from the clutch member '77 is a stud '79 which cooperates with a clutch shipper 80 (Figs. 2 and 3) pivotally mounted on the machine frame at 81 and yieldingly held in engagement with clutch member '77 and stud '79 by a spring 82. This spring normally holds the shipper 80 against a stop 83 (Fig. 2) on the frame of the machine. The shipper 80 normally' engages the stud '79 to hold the clutch member 7'7 out of engagement with the clutch face of sprocket 69, with the spring '78 under compression.

The shipper 80 is provided at its free end with a shoulder 84 to cooperate with a shoulder 85 near the lower end of a push bar 86. The upper end of the push bar 86 is pivotally connected to an arm 8'7, which is fixed to rock-shaft 88 j ournaled in bearings on the machine frame. A spring 90 connected at one end to the collar 32 and at its opposite end to the arm 8'7 yleldingly holds the push bar 86 normally downward in the position shown in Fig. 2. When, during the operation of the machine, the push bar 86 is raised and lowered, the crank 6'7 is caused to make one revolution and stop, thereby acting through link 66 to reciprocate the feed carriage 65 for feeding the lowermost blank from the stack 61 forward into the machine. When the push bar 86 is raised by arm 8'7 it tends to swing by gravity toward the left (Fig. 2) so that its shoulder 85 engages shoulder 84 on the shipper lever 80. When arm 8'7 is again swung downwardly shoulder 85 pushes the free end of shipper lever 80 downwardly thereby disengaging the shipper 80 from the pin or stop '79 and permitting spring '78 to throw the clutch member '77 into engagement with the continuously rotating clutch member on sprocket wheel 69. The shaft 68 and crank 6'7 are thereupon rotated to effect the feeding operation of the feed carrier 65. As the crank 6'7 approaches the end of one rotation the stud '79 engages an abutment or cam 91 on push bar 86 thereby shifting the latter to the right (Fig. 2) out of engagement with the shipper 80 thus permitting the shipper 80 to be raised by spring 82 into the path of stud '79 so that when the stud '79 completes its revolution with crank 67 it rides against the side of shipper lever 80, which is shaped as a cam, and shifts the clutch member 7'7 out of engagement with the continuously rotating clutch and sprocket wheel 69.

The rock-shaft 88 on which the arm 8'7 is fixed extends inwardly part way across the machine (Figs. 1 and 5) and has fixed to its inner end an arm 92 carrying a roll 93 cooperating with a pin 94 projecting from a feed controlling trip 95. The trip 95 is fulcrumed at 96 to the front wall 62 of the magazine and extends over and in close proximity to the upper detecting roll 10, with its end in the path of the blanks close to the nip of the detecting rolls as shown at 97.

As the advance end of each blank emerges from between the rolls 10 and 11 it engages and actuates the tip 97 of the feed controlling trip 95, which acts through pin 94, roller 93, arm 92, shaft 88 and arm 87 to raise the push bar 86. The push bar 86 is held in its elevated position until the rear end of the blank is removed from engagement with the tip 9'7 of trip 95, whereupon the latter falls permitting spring 90 (Fig. 2) to swing arm 8'7 downward, thereby shoving push bar 86 downward'and operating the shipper 80, as described, to cause a single revolution of the crank 67. It will be noted that the blank will be brought to a stop by bed plate when it is discharged from between the rolls 10 and 11, and the rear end of the blank will remain at rest under the tip 7 of trip 95 until the blank is manually removed from the machine by the operator, so that the feeding in of the next succeeding blank from magazine H will not be started until the preceding blank has been removed from underneath the feed-controlling trip 95.

The gate 52, when in its lowermost position, constitutes a barrier obstructing the outlet passage leading from the magazine H to the detecting rolls and it is therefore necessary momentarily to raise the gate when the lowermost blank within the magazine is started forward by the feed carr age 65. This is accomplished by means of a cam 98 (Figs. 4 and 5) fastened to the link 66 of the feed mechanism in such position as to actuate the lever 99 (Figs. 3 and 4) at a certain point in the rotation of the crank 67. The lever 99 is fulcrumed at 100 on the machine frame and is connected by a link 101 with a lever 102 fulcruined at 103 on the upper part of the frame. The other end of lever 102 occupies a notch in gate 52. During the first part of each revolution of the crank 67, cam 98 acts through the parts just described, momentarily to raise gate 52 to admit the forward end of the blank which is being fed in from the magazine H by the feed carriage 65. As soon as the forward end of the blank arrives beneath the gate 52 the cam 98 passes out of engagement with the lever 99 and the gate is permitted to fall by gravity to rest on top of the blank where it remains until the rear end of the blank passes out from under the gate.

When the gate 52 is thus raised by cam 98 and during the time when said gate is resting on top of the blank, which is being fed forward, it acts through lever 50, bell crank 49 (Fig. 2) and link 46 to hold the pawl 46 out of engagement with its ratchet wheel 44. Thus, from the time the forward end of the blank leaves the magazine H until it reaches and lifts the starting trip 58, the machine will not register the measurements of the thinnest part of the blank, since the pointer 43 is free to move in either direction and will simply be moved idly back and forth by variations in the thickness of the blank as the forward part of the blank is traversed by the detecting rolls 10 and 11. When the advance end of the blank engages and raises the starting trip 58 the latter will act through rod 56, rook-shaft 55, lever 54 and pin 53 to permit pawl 47 to engage its ratchet wheel 45 and thereby start the preservation on indicator 41 of the thinness measurement of the blank. The indicator will continue to show the measurements until the rear end of the blank passes out from under gate 52, which now acts as a stopping trip to end the effective operation of the transmitting mechanism and so stop the measurements. When the stopping trip 52 (the gate) drops oif the end of the blank, it acts through lever 50, bell crank 49 and link 48 to move the pawl 46 into engagement with its ratchet wheel 44. The pointer 43 of the indicator is now locked against movement in either direction and will indicate the thickness of the thinnest spot of that area of the blank whose measurements as determined by the detecting rolls have been transmitted to the indicator. The effective grading operation on each blank starts when the blank engages and lifts the starting trip 58 and terminates when the stopping trip 52 drops off from the trailing end of the blank. The bracket 57 carrying the trip roll 58 is adjustable lengthwise on the rod 56 by the usual clamping device 104 so as to vary the extent of the advance end of the blank which is to be al lowed to pass without being graded. When later the blank is removed from under the starting trip 58 the pawl 47 will be disengaged from its ratchet.

After the operator has read the grade measurement of the blank as shown on the indicator, he pulls the blank out from under trip 95, and the drop of trip 95 down on to the table starts the next blank into the machine, independently of the trip 58, by operating the shipper through pin 94, arm 87 and push bar 86, to start the feeding mechanism for feeding in another blank from the magazine H.

When the machine is started up in the first instance or when the last blank has been automatically fed forward from the magazine H and withdrawn from the machine and the supply of blanks is replenished by placing a new stack 61 in the magazine H, there will obviously be no blank under the feed-controlling trip 95 for automatically starting the feeding mechanism. Accordingly, in order to start the feeding mechanism under these conditions I provide an upwardly extending handle 105 fastened to the top of the feed-controlling trip 95. By manually operating the handle 105 the trip 95 may be raised and lowered, thereby starting the feeding mechanism in the same way as when the trip 95 is actuated by the blanks. After one manual operation of the handle 105 the machine will continue to operate automatically, as already described, until the supply of blanks in the magazine is again exhausted.

As shown in Figs. 6 and 7 each journal box 13 is a generally rectangular block mounted in vertical ways 106 on the frame of the machine. The block is formed with a vertically extending tongue 107 on one side occupying a vertical groovev 108 formed in the machine frame so that the block is held against sidewise movement within the ways but is slidable up and down therein. In the under side of each block is a pocket 109 Within which is arranged a coil spring 110 Whose lower end is seated upon a shelf 111 attached to the machine frame. The upper end of the spring abuts the upper end of the pocket 109. Spring 110 serves yieldingly to hold the journal box upward against the inclined bottom side of an abutment wedge 112, which is seated in a groove 113 on the top side of the journal box. The two wedges 112, 112, form a part of an adjusting bar 114 extending across the machine above roll 10, and the inclined bottom surfaces of said wedges bear against complementary inclined surfaces 115 at the bottoms of grooves 113 (Fig. 4). By shifting the bar 114 endwise the journal boxes 113, which are yieldingly pressed upwardly against the wedges, may be adjusted vertically on the frame. The bar 114 is adjusted endwise by means of a threaded stem 116 (Figs. 3 and 4) whose inner end is swiveled in a bracket 11'? secured to the top side of bar 114. The stem 116 extends outward to the side of the machine through a threaded aperture in lug 117 formed on the frame of the machine. Immediately outside of this lug the stem 116 is provided with a lock nut 118 by which the stem is held in position after adjustment and to the outer end of the stem is fixed a hand wheel 119 by which the stem may be adjusted when the lock nut 118 is loosened. The wedge blocks 112, 112, furnish a wide solid bearing surface and provide a. very firm, accurate means for adjusting and positioning the upper roll.

When the wedge bar 114 is adjusted endwise by handle 119 the journal boxes 113 are adjusted vertically as described. Thus, the upper detecting roll 10 may be set within the limits of its vertical movement to occupy a desired fixed relationship to the lower detecting roll 11.

This provision for vertical adjustment of the upper roll 10 is of advantage to enable the machine to be set so as to grade ditlerent classes T of stock without subjecting the machine to unnecessary wear and tear. For example, it often happens that a batch of blanks is to be graded which do not vary greatly in thickness. A batch of soles, for instance, may average about ten irons in thickness and may not vary from that average more than one or two irons in either direction. In order to minimize the extent of movement of the lower detecting roll 11 and thereby reduce wear on the machine, the upper roll 10 may be vertically adjusted through wedge bar 114 so that the normal separation of the two rolls with no blank between them will be, say, eight irons, this di; nee being sufficiently small to measure the thinne t blank in the batch. It will, therefore, be evident that the maximum displacement required of lower roll 1.1 grading the batch in question will be only three or four irons, whereas if the normal separation of the two rolls were, say, or eight irons less the movements required of the lower detecting roll as each blank passes between them would be about three times greater and would greatly increase the wear and tear on the machine. In this way the normal fixed position of the upper roll with relation to the lower roll may be regulated to minimize the motion of the lower roll according to the prevailing or average thickness of the blanks in any given batch, provided there is not too great a difference in thickness between the individual blanks of the batch.

The motor 74, by which the shaft 10 is driven, is mounted upon a bracket 120 (Figs. 1, 2 and 4) which is fastened to the machine frame by screws 121 extending through vertical slots 122 formed in the bracket so that when the upper roll 10 is adjusted vertically through the wedge bar 114, the bracket 120 and motor 74 may also be vertically adjusted to a corresponding extent thereby maintaining the worm 73 properly in mesh with the worm gear 72.

The machine is preferably equipped with the usual piston 123 and dash pot 124 (Fig. 2) associated with the lever arm 29, the lower end of the dash pot cylinder being fastened to the frame of the machine. Also the usual stop 125 (Fig. 2) may be employed for limiting the upward movement of arm 129, in addition to stops 89 which engage the bell-crank levers 19, 19 (Fig. 4), said stop 125 serving to relieve the arm 129 of undue shocks or snapping stresses when the rear end of a blank is discharged from between the detecting rolls.

I claim:

1. A grading machine comprising detecting and propelling rolls, means to stop the travel of a blank when it has been delivered from between the detecting and propelling rolls, grading mechanism, transmitting mechanism by which the grading mechanism is responsive to the measuring action of the detecting and propelling rolls, a starting trip in the path of the blank adapted to be actuated by the advance end of the blank being propelled by the detecting and propelling rolls, to initiate the effective operation of the transmitting mechanism, a stopping trip in advance of said rolls adapted to be actuated by the rear end of the blank to end the effective operation of the transmitting mechanism, a normally idle feeder for feeding blanks one at a time to the detecting and propelling rolls, a feed-contrclling trip independent of the starting trip and the stopping trip arranged to engage the stationary blank after it has been delivered from between the detecting and propelling rolls, and mechanism actuated when the blank is manually removed from engagement with the feed-controlling trip to operate the feeder to feed another blank to the detecting and propelling rolls.

2. A grading machine comprising a pair of detecting rolls mounted one above the other, one

roll being movable toward and from the other in response to variations in thickness of a blank passing between the rolls, bearings in which, the ends of the movable roll are journaled mounted for vertical movement on the machine frame, a crossbar whose ends are positioned underneath the bearings, a pair of brackets on the crossbar, a pair of levers fulcrumed on the frame, a link pivotally connecting each lever with one of said brackets, and means yieldingly urging the s levers in a direction to press the crossbar and movable roll toward the other roll.

JAMES W. JOHNSTON. 

